Tech Boys

Back in January, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced that it had canceled plans for the return of an in-person E3. The news came as Omicron concerns lingered following the end of the holiday season. Today, the organization confirmed reports that the 2022 version of the gaming show is not happening in any form. The ESA insists that another setback doesn’t spell full disaster for the show, which has traditionally been held at the Los Angeles Convention Center every June. Rather, it insists that a year of retooling will serve to improve next year’s planned hybrid event. “We will devote all our energy and resources to delivering a revitalized physical and digital E3 experience next summer,” the organization said in a statement. “Whether enjoyed from the show floor or your favorite devices, the 2023 showcase will bring the community, media, and industry back together in an all-new format and interactive experience.” Prior to the pandemic, interest in the show has ebbe...

A disproportionate number of the early industrial food-making robots we’ve seen have been focused on pizza . I’ve long posited that this is for two key reasons. First: People like pizza. We eat a lot of it. Americans alone eat three billion pizzas a year. Second: It’s relatively easy to make. The dough provides a fairly straightforward platform onto which ingredients are added. I say “fairly” here because there are still complications. There’s really no such thing as easy when it comes to building robots that can execute variations on a task at a large scale. Here it’s the dough that presents the problem. Turning a soft and malleable ball of dough into a pizza crust is one of those things humans have figured out how to do efficiently, but it still proves difficult for robot workers. A team of researchers at MIT, CMU and UC San Diego set out to create what they’ve deemed “complex dough-manipulation.” The system is separated into a two-step process, in which the robot must first determ...

If you’ve never picked a raspberry, well, first of all that’s too bad, because a fresh raspberry is a beautiful thing. But second, and more immediately relevant in this case, you would not know that there is a technique to it that, surprisingly, robots aren’t super good at because they tend to be… crushy. But this robo-berry designed by Swiss researchers could usher in a new era of gentle, automated robo-pickers. The secret to picking a raspberry is to grip it just enough to get purchase and then pull it downwards off the little stem, apparently called the “receptacle,” which seems backwards. Seems simple — and it is, but only our hands are among the most sensitive and finely controlled constructions in the universe, the culmination of a hundred million years of evolution, outdone only by (I suspect) raccoons. Robots simply don’t have the senses necessary to figure out the perfect technique for picking a berry. But what if it could communicate with the berry to better sense the forc...

The COVID-19 pandemic taught the world how to work from home, but Russia’s war in Ukraine has taught the employees at Delfast, a Ukrainian e-bike startup, how to work from bomb shelters, while on the move and under threat of violence.  The usual priorities of a startup – securing venture funding, researching and developing new products, finding product-market fit – haven’t exactly been put on hold, but they are now much lower on Delfast’s to-do list. Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in late February, Delfast’s top priority has been to see its Ukrainian team of 30 safely evacuated from the most dangerous parts of the country.  When not focusing on sales, marketing, R&D and customer support, Delfast’s smaller team of seven employees based in Los Angeles has been pleading with U.S. politicians and the European Commission to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and fighter jets that could help Ukraine gain back some control over its air space, and, hopefully, put a...

The initial results of a second union election at Amazon's BHM1 warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama have finally come through. Workers have voted against unionization in a closely contested 993-875 vote (with 59 voided votes) out of 6,153 workers eligible to cast a ballot. Turnout appears to have been considerably lower this time around, as more than 3,000 employees cast ballots in the early 2021 vote . However, 416 votes have been challenged — more than enough to change the outcome — so the definitive result might not be available for some time. The tally brings BHM1 to the possible end of a long and messy saga. Bessemer workers voted against unionization in early 2021, but the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Amazon violated labor laws by allegedly interfering with the vote. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) accused Amazon of repeatedly trying to intimidate workers through measures like an unauthorized ballot box and anti-union campaign material. Wh...

Even if you have a very capable smartphone and a nice laptop, one of the best tablets can still be worth adding to your tech arsenal. The touchscreen that can be carried anywhere makes for a portable studio for creatives, a crucial sidekick for commuters and frequent travelers, and a mini TV for people who aren't missing the newest episode of Bridgerton just because they're on vacation. Pretty much anyone can enjoy a tablet. Whether you're looking for a kids edition tablet or something to be more creative, there are plenty of excellent options out there.  Before you dive in though, we've got a simple question to help narrow down your options. Are you an Apple person? That helps you immediately know if an Apple iPad is for you or if something like a Samsung Galaxy or even a Microsoft Surface Pro is more appealing. One of the biggest deciding factors is which operating system you're most comfortable with.  Whatever your thoughts, the buying guide below lays out ...

We tested Ethan Hawke and the cast and crew of Marvel's Moon Knight on their moon knowledge. from Mashable https://ift.tt/lHX5P2z via IFTTT

Hundreds of companies presented at Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 Demo Day event , and I looked at pretty much all their logos. There’s a lot of solid ones, a few clunkers and a handful of really nice ones. Here’s a list of the latter for your pleasure and edification. I haven’t put these in any order — in fact the order they appeared in when I put the images in the post was a complete surprise. Let’s go! Circular : With a shape specified right there in the company name, you’d think they’d go full circle, so to speak, but this loopy spiral thing is a way better choice in my opinion. The company does recycling, if I remember correctly, so the idea of a more complex loop, and connecting one end to another, is apropos. Not only that, but by doing it this way you hide a C in there as well. The cranberry (mulberry?) color is a solid choice too. Wait… I just realized it’s the Life360 logo rotated about 40 degrees. Well, there’s nothing new under the sun, it seems, and honestly this one is be...

Google has begun rolling out a new update to its iOS YouTube TV app that allows both iPhone and iPad users to take advantage of picture-in-picture functionality. To watch something in PiP mode, swipe up from the bottom of the screen. The video will then automatically resize and move across your device’s display. iPhone & iPad users 🔊 We’re happy to share that picture-in-picture is now rolling out to your iOS 15+ devices. Simply select a video to watch and swipe ⬆️ from the bottom of the screen to return to the device's homepage. The video can scale down and move across your screen. — YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) March 30, 2022 Today’s update is long overdue, a fact Google acknowledged. “We really appreciate your patience while we worked on enabling this key feature for your iOS 15+ devices,” the company said on Twitter . To put the wait in perspective, Apple’s mobile operating system has supported picture-in-picture functionality on iPad since iOS 13 and iPhone since iOS ...

Astronomers have had success finding some of the most distant galaxies in the universe, but now they might have pinpointed the most distant star to date. As SyFy Wire notes , researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope have spotted Earendel ("morning star" in Old English), a star currently reckoned to be 12.9 billion light-years away — the light we see from it comes from when the universe was roughly 900 million years old. Until now, the smallest objects seen at that distance were star clusters. If confirmed, the star will easily smash the previous record. The most distant star before now was MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1, which shone when the universe was about 4 billion years old. Scientists found that star using Hubble in 2018. The ancient star Earendel capured in a composite of exposures from the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA/ESA/Brian Welch (JHU)/Dan Coe (STScI)/Alyssa Pagan (STScI) The feat was accomplished using gravitational lensing , or relying on the gravit...

A Ukrainian soldier patrols next to a burned house in the village of Lukianivka near Kyiv on March 30, 2022. Ronaldo Schemidt / Getty Images Russian forces continued shelling the suburbs of Kyiv and Chernihiv on Wednesday.  The attacks came after Russian officials claimed they would scale down assaults in those cities Tuesday.  Russia said it would build a "mutual trust" between them and Ukraine.  Russian forces have continued to bomb the suburbs of Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv, Reuters reported , despite Russian officials' claims that Putin's military would scale back its assault to build "mutual trust." Russia on Wednesday launched an attack on the outskirts of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. "It's not true," Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a video address to EU regional officials in regard to the slowing of attacks. "The whole night we listened to sirens, to rocket attacks and we listened to huge explosions ...

Tumblr is expanding its tip jar feature by introducing blog-level tipping for its iOS and web applications, the company announced on Wednesday. The company rolled out its tip jar feature last month allowing users to leave tips on posts. Today’s expansion will allow users to leave tips on blogs. Tumblr says the expansion will benefit creators because it permits tipping at the blog level without tying the tip to a specific post. You can now enable tipping for your blog in your profile or blog view. Once you sign up for tipping, a tip button will become available on your blog view header. To tip a blog on the web, you can select the “Tip” button and select how much you’d like to gift. On the iOS app, you can select the “Support” button to send a tip. Tumblr says it’s working on adding blog-level tipping feature to its Android app soon. When users tip a creator, they can send a note alongside the tip. Anonymous tips are allowed, but in that case, the tipper isn’t able to leave a messag...

It may look a lot like the redesigned iMac , but Apple’s new Studio Display is in many ways a more complicated device once you open it up. Next to the company’s all-in-one desktop, the monitor is about 50 percent thicker, and there’s an interesting reason for that. Following its recent Mac Studio teardown , iFixit took apart the Studio Display to see the engineering that went into Apple’s first dedicated monitor since the Pro Display XDR. What ends up making the studio display thicker than the iMac is a complicated, multi-board power supply board that’s housed within the monitor. Unlike with the iMac, you don’t need an adapter to power the Studio Display. It's one of those features that might seem small on the surface, but it ultimately leads to a better user experience.   “If [Apple] had gone with an external power supply, this could have been the same design as the iMac,” iFixit said. It notes Apple likely invested a significant amount of engineering effort and cost ...

YouTube's copyright claim system has been repeatedly abused for bogus takedown requests , and Bungie has had enough. TorrentFreak reports the game studio has sued 10 anonymous people for allegedly leveling false Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims against a host of Destiny 2 creators on YouTube, and even Bungie itself. The company said the culprits took advantage of a "hole" in YouTube's DMCA security that let anyone claim to represent a rights holder, effectively letting "any person, anywhere" misuse the system to suit their own ends. According to Bungie, the perpetrators created a Gmail account in mid-March that was intended to mimic the developer's copyright partner CSC. They then issued DMCA takedown notices while falsely claiming to represent Bungie, and even tried to fool creators with another account that insisted the first was fraudulent. YouTube didn't notice the fake credentials and slapped video producers with copyright strik...

Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, at the Capitol on December 13, 2021. Scott J. Applewhite/AP Joe Manchin just hired a natural gas lobbyist to work for him on the Senate Energy Committee. C.J. Osman lobbied Congress on behalf of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. Manchin has been one of the biggest critics of Joe Biden's climate agenda. Sen. Joe Manchin has hired a natural gas industry lobbyist to work for the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee as he continues to spar with the Biden administration over its energy and climate policies. C.J. Osman spent nearly six years at the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, most recently as its top lobbyist, before joining Manchin's committee as a professional staff member in March. The hiring was first reported by Legistorm, which compiles data about the congressional workforce. Osman was registered as a lobbyist representing the INGAA from 2019 to 2021, and represented the or...

Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP Bill Hagerty disclosed that each of his four children now owns a stake in Nashville's MLS team, Nashville SC Hagerty told Insider that buying into professional sports runs in the family. He also left the door open to buying into the team or another sports franchise in the future. Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty's four dependent children have become minority owners of Nashville SC, Tennessee's Major League Soccer club, according to a financial filing disclosed by Hagerty's office. Each of their stakes in Nashville Soccer Holdings LLC is estimated between $1 million and $5 million and effective February 28, according to the disclosure. The exact size of the Hagerty children's shares is not entirely clear, as federal law only requires senators to disclose broad ranges of their own and their families' financial assets.  The Tennessee Republican said buying into professional sports runs...

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is introducing several new features and shortcuts to its Messenger app. Most notably, the company is adding a new Slack-like “@everyone” functionality that will notify all participants in a chat about a new message. Meta notes that the new feature is perfect for group reminders, get-togethers or when you’re asking a time-sensitive question and need a quick response. On the other hand, the company is also rolling out a “/silent” functionality. When you type in “/silent” before sending a message in a group chat, the members of the group will not receive a notification of your message at all. Meta says the feature removes the anxiety of interrupting someone who may be in a different time zone and allows users to read messages at their leisure. These two new features are available starting today. Meta also hinted at a few upcoming shortcuts that will roll out in the coming weeks. The company plans to launch a new “/pay” shortcut in the United States t...

Since inception, Y Combinator has invested in thousands of startups, and more recently, even hundreds within a single batch. Given the accelerator’s growth, competitive tensions feel nearly inevitable. Still, one has to wonder if there is a fundamental shift afoot. Whereas YC always backed companies that might at some point overlap, the outfit appeared to casting its net far and wide, bringing in different startups at different stages from different geographies — companies that used each other’s products, in fact, and formed tight bonds through YC’s active alumni network. Now, however, YC seems to be actively leaning into startups that are roughly the same age, operating in the same countries and targeting exactly the same opportunity with nearly identical business models. Indeed, while similar types of companies within a class had grown inescapable as YC’s class sizes have ballooned, a kind of sameness is more apparent than ever with it latest batch of 400 startups. In fact, it’s...

If a startup from New Jersey has its way, the next Ray Kroc will be a robot. In the last week, a company called RoboBurger installed an autonomous burger chef in Jersey City’s Newport Centre Mall. Over on its website, RoboBurger breathlessly describes its vending machine as the “biggest innovation in hot food vending since the invention of the microwave.” Inside of a frame that occupies about 12 square feet, the RoboBurger features everything it needs to make a complete – if somewhat visually unappealing – burger in approximately six minutes. And while there may not be any humans involved, the machine uses the same five-step cooking process employed by many quick-service restaurants. An automated griddle grills the patty at the same time the machine toasts the bun. When you order your burger, you can decide whether you want ketchup, mustard and cheese on it. There’s even a built-in cleaning system that is up to the standards of the National Sanitary Foundation. Oh, and you can pay...

When you need to quickly and efficiently get rid of sensitive banking or identification documents, a paper shredder provides a convenient solution that's far more efficient than just ripping pages by hand. These machines easily shred all sorts of paper documents and credit cards, too, and you don't even have to worry about removing staples or paper clips. Some heavier-duty models can even shred CDs and DVDs. What to consider before buying a paper shredder Whether for personal pages at home or highly-sensitive professional documents in the office, a paper shredder offers that next level of security and peace of mind you need—but you’ll want to make sure you pick up the right kind of shredder to suit your needs and budget.There are a number of things you should bear in mind when buying a paper shredder. This includes things like paper size; load size; the type of cut; shredding spread; the level of noise the shredder makes; safety around small children and inquisitive pets; an...

The best noise-canceling headphones make traveling so much more pleasant. When you're flying, you'll inevitably be confronted by a multitude of unpleasant sounds, from crying babies to the roaring engine of the plane.  Airplane noise can be tricky to block out which is why we've looked at the best noise-canceling headphones for travel rather than just for general use. If you're a frequent flyer, active noise cancellation makes all the difference to ensure you get the most comfortable flight possible. Active noise-canceling technology is more accessible than ever nowadays, so it’s easy to find a variety of headphones with the ability to block out nearly all unwanted ambient sound. Many headphones also have the ability to go wireless, sync up with your smart devices, and so much more. It's a great time to be buying a new set of headphones. Before you dive in, it's useful to think about what your budget is and what your needs are. Generally, over-ear headphones...